Men's Golf

Matadors 14th at Season-Opening Saint Mary's Invitational

Sep 25, 2012

SEASIDE, Calif. - Cal State Northridge men's golf wound up the season-opening Saint Mary's Invitational in 14th place following a final round 312. Individually, junior Kyler Sauer finished as the top Matador in 37th place at the tournament held at the Bayonet and Blackhorse courses.

CSUN, which was tied for 13th after rounds of 309-302 on Monday, slipped out of a tie with Cal Poly after posting a final round 312. The Matadors (923) finished nine shots behind the Mustangs (914) and four strokes in front of 16th place Florida Gulf Coast (927).

"We just couldn't get anything going today," said head coach Jim Bracken. "We're a better team than we showed in this tournament so I'm optimistic moving forward. These were tough courses we played here but we really didn't help ourselves at all."

Sauer, a junior transfer from College of the Canyons, fired his second consecutive round of three over-par 75 on Tuesday to finish with two others in 37th-place at (+10) 226. Sauer was the most consistent of the CSUN golfers, posting rounds of 76-75-75 over his three rounds.

Senior Matt Siporin matched Sauer over the first two rounds but slipped to a final round seven over 79 on Tuesday to finish tied for 52nd at (+14) 230. Siporin, the Matadors' third-leading scorer in his last full season (2010-11) before redshirting 2011-12, posted rounds of 75-76-79.

Junior Ryan Green dropped into a tie for 66th at (+18) 234 after a final round 80. Green wound up posting rounds of 76-78-80 which ended up one shot better than teammate Oscar Sachs who finished tied for 69th at (+19) 235. Sachs posted scores of 83-74-78 in his first tournament as a Matador. Shane Blanchard rounded out the CSUN scoring as he placed 79th at (+26) 242 following rounds of 82-77-83.

Despite the disappointing finish Bracken saw some positive things out of his young team.

"The team competed all three rounds and never gave up," said Bracken. "These guys know they can play so we'll regroup at get ready for Cal Poly in two weeks."

Cal State Northridge returns to competition Oct. 8-9 as the Matadors compete at the Firestone Grill Cal Poly Invitational at Monarch Dunes G.C. in Nipomo, Calif.